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Brush pickup to stagger every three years

Brush pickup to stagger every three years

The West Lake Hills City Council continued budget discussions during its Aug. 23 meeting. RACHEL RICE/WESTLAKE PICAYUNE

Next year’s proposed West Lake Hills budget was tightened up, and the City Council got an update on Bee Cave Road construction during the Aug. 23 meeting.

The City Council approves the 201718 budget and a new tax rate in late September and made progress working its way through budget numbers during the last several meetings, with one last chance to massage the budget on Sept. 13.

The City Council has determined that brush pickup will likely only take place every three years, and set aside $125,000 for brush pickup in the fall of 2018. The council also decided to include $2,500 in the budget to pay an investment adviser.

The council debated an item put forth by Police Chief Scott Gerdes at an earlier meeting – mandatory psychological evaluations of all officers on a regular basis. Council members debated holding the funds in a contingency fund until a later time.

“It’s an ongoing expense, and there are so many implications for the city,” Councilwoman Rhonda McCullough said. “We could make it a pilot project or something – we could set money aside but not approve it yet. But making it a condition of employment concerns me.”

City Administrator Robert Wood gave the council an update on Bee Cave Road construction, saying the Texas Department of Transportation has let him know that the project’s completion date has been pushed back four to six months, into the summer of 2019.

“The main reason for that is they’ve had a lot of problems and challenges with utilities,” Wood said. “Hopefully, that will be done by the end of September … That was supposed to be done last fall.”